Why they love Free Software

Our online campaign aims at rising awareness to Free Software and the
passionate, hard-working people behind it. Show them that you appreciate their
work – it could make all the difference! Others already did so, and here you can
read why they love Free Software.

"I love free software because it has so much in common with the
cooperative movement. Both - the Raiffeisen movement that started more than
150 years ago - and the Free Software Community emphasize democracy,
transparency, pluralism, consistency, reliability and focus. Both enable
people to solve important problems together. I also love Free Software
because I am a long-term GNU/Linux user and an active contributor to the
PmWiki project."
— Stefanie Schulte, public relations specialist

"A few decades ago the word "Freedom" had a very different meaning than
today. We live in a digital society in which many aspects of our lives, and of
our Freedom, go through a digital medium. Having full control of the software we
use is therefore the only way to achieve full control of our Freedom. I love
Free Software because I take care of my Freedom."
— Massimo Barbieri, Member of the
LUG Scandiano and
Fellow of FSFE

"I love free software because it empowers people, free software puts
you in condition to do things you could not do before, because it
increases your knowledge and renders you more aware of your
possibilities. I discovered free software at university, and since
then a whole world has unfolded for me; and it is there, waiting to be
used and waiting for another contributor. With free software I have
done something that, before, I did much less: learning! I have learned
not only more about computer science but also valuable skills for my
studies and my job. So I have to say a big "Thank you" to all the
people who are spending their time and providing us with great
software."
— Christian Consonni, vice-president of Wikimedia Italy.

"As a web designer I spend most of the time working on computers.
Usability is a big issue for me. And a very important part of usability
is the compliance with well defined open standards because every program
can be built to support these norms. It's insane not comply with them if
you want to provide a diverse audience with a certain design and a clear
and reliable interaction. Free software is built around open standards.
Unfortunately big proprietary software vendors ignore those standards
building solutions which work for their own products only. I don't want
to support this greed and take a stand for reasoning and cooperation by
using free software and supplying media in formats which can be accessed
freely without the need to accept unfavourable limitations.
Franz Gratzer, active for veganism, the environment and Fellow of the
FSFE"
— Franz Gratzer.

"The reason why "I love Free Software" it's in the phrase itself.
Be free is important, be free to manage my computer as I want is important,
be free to learn always something from other fellows is important, be free
to teach always something to other fellows is important.
All of this is possible only with Free Software, and since I joined the
cause, I couldn't live without anymore.
Linux, Ubuntu, Gnome, LibreOffice, Gimp, Blender, Chromium, just to name
few, and many more free software that I use every day, allows me do what I
want, in the way I want.
No matter if I have to write a document, do some calculations, write
software code, create some graphics, or simply enjoy a game or watch a
film. Free Software it's always there with a simple and effective solution
for me in any field."
— Nicola Jelmorini.

"I like, support and need "Free Software".
It is a fundamental part of the internet as we know it, a basic
precondition of a free Internet and even supports in some way the
democracy around the world.
Free Software isn't only a cheap way to get a MS Word clone. It is a
political statement and even a religion for some developers."
— Kai Kretschmann

"On Valentines Day, the Society for Free Culture and Software, extends their
love to projects such as Audacity, GIMP, Inkscape and other audiovisual tools.
These tools form the backbone of the infrastructure needed to support free
culture and while Free Culture could technically exist independently of Free
Software, the two movements share a common philosophy of freedom which make the
two inseparable. Without Free Software, our activities would be so much more
difficult to carry out, and no Free Culture project would be able to enjoy the
full freedoms without the infrastructure created by Free Software projects such
as those outlined before. To everyone engaged in supporting this
infrastructure: thank you! We love you!"
— Jonas Oberg, Society for Free
Culture and Software (Föreningen fri kultur och programvara)

"Why I love Free Software? Because it let's me do cool things whithout
having to work in some big USA-based software company."
— Valentin Rusu

"Free Software is central to everything KDE does and without Free Software KDE
software could not exist.

KDE relies overwhelmingly on volunteer contributions from people all around
the world who, initially, do not know one another. Free Software provides the
social contract that makes such contributions possible, as our volunteers know
they are helping to create a common good that can be shared by all.

Free Software and the shared purpose it creates also gives KDE its distinctive
non-hierarchical meritocratic structure. Without the principles of Free
Software, KDE would need centralised control of the software copyrights and,
in turn, a set of leaders determining the direction of the software we
produce. Our contributors would have less ability to try out new ideas, to
work on the things that really matter to them and, above all, to be Free.

Without Free Software, there would be no KDE. Free Software gives KDE life.
KDE loves Free Software."
— Cornelius Schumacher, President
of KDE e.V.

"I love Free Software because it presents an alternative when it feels like
there can never be an alternative."
— Chris Woolfrey

"I love Free Software because we depend more and more upon software, in
every moment of our lives. It is software that handles our email and
social network activities when we communicate; it is software that
controls our ovens and fridges when to prepare our meals; it is software
that drives cars and airplanes when we travel around the world; it is
software that keeps many of us alive when we need hospital equipment or
bio-medical devices like pacemakers. A world without Free Software
means being held hostage by proprietary software authors that run our
lives. I love Free Software because it can set us free."
— Dr. Stefano Zacchiroli, Debian Project Leader, Scientist and Free Software Developer

"I love free software because it's like a car that comes with complete service
manual and every tool you might ever need -- I can repair it and even add new
features myself! If I do, other users may benefit from my changes, and if
I can't, there's always a community that is more than willing to help."
— Martin Zuther

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As a non-profit, non-governmental organisation, Free Software Foundation
Europe works to create general understanding and support for Free Software
and Open Standards in politics, business, law and society at large.